Coconut Rice Bear, a 4-year-old, 50-pound Samoyed living in San Francisco, could be making as much as $84,000 a year, which is more than Php 4 million. How does she do it? By being one of Instagram’s foremost dog-influencers, of course. With 361k followers, she has been called the “queen of San Francisco” and it shows.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0WKj8JFYO6/
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Her owner, Chuck Lai, describes Coconut Rice Bear as “playful and silly, but a little dramatic.” It seems that persona is exactly what is needed to bring in sponsorships as Coconut has already worked with multiple companies, from a dog harness maker to a personal finance website. And these companies are most likely paying $3,500 (nearly Php 200k) a post based on the formula of $100 per 10,000 followers.
Since Lai only began monetizing Coconut’s account this year and plans to have only 2 sponsored posts per month, this would be where we get the potential gross annual income of $84,000 a year. But that amount isn’t just a quick buck to make, it actually takes hours of Lai’s time to conceive posts, shoot and edit them, and interact with followers.
After all, a large part of Coconut’s appeal is the personal connection she’s made with her fans. Due to the use of DoggoLingo, a style of speaking popularized by Twitter user WeRateDogs, Coconut’s captions are immediately relatable. Lai describes it as “giving a voice to your dog.” He also shares that people have come up to them when walking on the street and interact with her as if they know her.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0d17OJFPdG/
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In actuality, all of this began with a personal account Lai used to document Coconut’s life to safe-keep some memories. When he bought her from a breeder in 2015 he never envisioned that his pet would rocket to influencer stardom. But when 9GAG posted one of her videos, Coconut suddenly raked in 50,000 followers to add to the pool that had been growing organically. The rest, as they say, is history.
Do you think your floofer could be a dog-influencer too? Share your photos of them with us in the comments!Â
